The Minimalist Path to Liberation

Written by Everett Bogue | Follow me on Twitter

Far Beyond The Stars is a series of stories about how to achieve freedom. That much needs to be clear. When I write these stories, the immediate product may be a clean kitchen counter or an uncluttered schedule; the ultimate goal is a life where none of that matters anymore.

I believe were at a moment in time when we are poised to make a huge change in the way we humans inhabit our lives and our world.

We are on the verge of reclaiming our nomadic heritage.

After hundreds of years of having to settle, forced to rely on agriculture to sustain ourselves and then made to work in factories, we’re finally coming into an age where none of that matters anymore.

We can live anywhere, work from anywhere, and do whatever we like. We’ve broken mass media’s hold on our decisions, our idea production — any of us can start creating with a reasonable expectation that we will be able make a living from our passion.

This is what Timothy Ferriss wrote about in the 4 hour work week.

This is what Seth Godin wrote about in Tribes.

I’m living this life right now, and from what I’ve seen so far of the flexibility and the possibility for growth, it’s pretty awesome.

Chris Guillebeau is living this life

Tammy Strobel is living this life

Colin Wright is living this life

And countless others, too many to name.

You can live this life too.

Now, I’m not saying that everyone needs to pick up their roots and become a location independant worker or digital vagabond. That’s certainly not a requirement. That’s one end in this path to liberation, and it just happens to be my goal.

Your goals may be complete different, but the philosophy applies to everything. When we make the changes in our lives, when we summon the courage to break free of the chains of the material world, we can do anything.

Happy new year everyone.

I’d love to hear what your plans are for the new decade. Let us know in the comments, drop me an email, or find me on Twitter.

Thank you so much for being a part of this revolution.

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  • Everett Bogue
    That's great 365girl, I'm sorry the business didn't work out, but I'm glad it is now! Thanks for reading and sharing with us.
  • 365girl
    Great post! I quit my job over 3 years ago. My first self employed venture crashed and burned! But I can never look back and say 'I had this great idea....' I tried it and it didn't work out but I learnt such a lot. Fortunately my vocation found me through a series of coincidences and what some might call luck (I call actually making the most of all previous opportunities!!!). Good luck to all those who take the leap - its not always easy but the old saying comes in 'no pain no gain'. Have fun!
  • I couldn't have said it better myself.

    David Damron
    The Minimalist Path
  • Thanks all for the comments, it's so inspiring to hear all of your goals and ambitions.

    Steve, I could write about being average and working for a telecom, but I'm not sure that's what this blog about. I'm sure there is a market for a blog like that, it's just not one that I personally would write. Thanks for the suggestion though!

    What's so apparent to me is that we have many different goals, but being minimalist seems to be a central way to achieve all of them. For me it's about living and working everyone, for others it is a completely different goal. All are awesome.

    I wish you the best of luck in the coming year, let me know if there is any way I can help you achieve your goals!
  • "We are on the verge of reclaiming our nomadic heritage."

    That's powerful and strikes a cord in me, thanks for the inspiration and best of luck of the year and decade to come !
  • Steve
    "..We can live anywhere, work from anywhere, and do whatever..."

    I don't think everyone can take this attitude. You are free to make your choice because others follow the average lifestyle.

    Lets say everyone decided to live in Florida and no one wanted to work in energy or telecoms. How would that work?
  • Hey Everett,

    Unlike you i am "location dependent" lol, however your a right in saying that its not a requirement, it is reaching avcertain nirvana state no matter what situation your in.

    Greg
  • Everett,

    Great post. It really resonates with me. I recently read The 4-Hour Workweek (several times). Actually, the first time I read it a few years ago, I thought it had a few interesting ideas, but I didn't particularly like the book. Maybe I just wasn't ready for it. But now I am very ready! I even bought the revised and updated version of the book. I plan on giving the old one away.

    I have begun the process of liberating myself from the need to work for others and the need to work in a particular location. I just started a new blog today with the theme Dream into Action:
    http://www.markcancellieri.com/

    I'm planning on making this my basic platform for achieving "location independence." This isn't my first attempt at blogging. I think that I gave up too early last time because of two main reasons: 1) I wasn't passionate enough about the subject that I chose, and 2) I didn't know what I was doing. To address the first issue, I chose a slightly different subject than before (was investing and personal finance, now lifestyle design and achieving your dreams). To address the second issue, I have committed to educating myself over time about blogging and what it takes to be successful at it. I will just take action and make improvements along the way.

    I also am attracted to the idea of minimalism (which is why I subscribed to this blog). However, I really haven't put minimalism into practice at home, although I'm pretty minimalist at work. I have been procrastinating about implementing minimalism at home because it is a little overwhelming. I need to begin taking it step by step.

    Have a Happy New Year everyone!
  • Ah, forecasting the next ten years is a fun yet difficult experiment. I'd actually like to see an article from you, Everett, about your own forecast for yourself. Would it include children? Would it include any of the conventionalities that most other standard americans are living?

    I've been living the standard american life. More and more lately I feel unnatural in it, like I am crawling out of my skin. There's a few things that prevent me from dropping it all for now. One, I have infant triplets that were born prematurely and I am the only breadwinner in the family. So I am stuck for a little while so that I can enjoy the perks of good healthcare at work.

    Also, I am married to a woman who grew up in a fractured home and is craving the stability of the standard american life.

    Yes, I realize that I made the decision to marry my wife and to have children with her, so I've case my own die.

    With this in mind, ten years from now, I still hope to personally be free. My wife will want to return to work when the triplets are in school. Perhaps she can find something with excellent health care. She did used to work at the same company that I currently do.

    My employer is already experimenting with a two day a week work at home program and they have made special considerations for certain people to not be tied to a desk at all. So there is hope, but my real dream is to leave paid work all together, write for a living and create educational products. I also enjoy writing music and performing at small venues as a singer/songwriter. This brings in small pockets of income as does the fact that I own six rental units.

    I've set things up based on the multiple streams of income model. I also have bonds and dividend producing stocks in my portfolio. It was an intentional, yet slow safe climb that should bear fruition in five to ten years.

    We'd like to travel a bit too, maybe a month a year. I haven't done any previously outside of the US and Canada so I really don't have any idea where I would want to spend any extended time to live. Perhaps nowhere, I do love my city. I don't really have a desire to home school the kids so really, it's a matter of waiting till summers to travel.

    Anyway, thanks for sharing this wonderful exercise. Much happiness in the new year.

    - Charley
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